t
illuminated the whole city so that there was "no need of the sun,
neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the _glory of God did lighten
it, and the Lamb is the light thereof_." In ancient times "the glory of
God" filled the _tabernacle_, the place of his abode; but here it filled
_the whole city_. In that tabernacle the Shekinah was the manifestation
of the divine glory of Jehovah. In the New Jerusalem Jesus Christ, who
is "the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person,"
illuminates the entire city of God. Oh, halleluiah!

In olden times the cities were surrounded with walls, designed as a
defense against all enemies. The more important the city, the higher and
stronger were the walls built. Having walls, it was necessary also to
have gates to furnish ingress and egress to the inhabitants. These gates
were in charge of faithful guardians, who had authority to open and to
close them according to the regulations of the city. In accordance with
this idea the city of God is represented as having "a wall great and
high." This wall represents the security of Zion, whose inhabitants
within can rest in peace and safety. The three gates on each side
represent the free and easy access into the city from every quarter.
Anciently, it was customary to give names to the gates of a city, just
as we now do to our streets. The gates of this holy city were named
after the twelve tribes of the children of Israel, which embraced all
God's ancient covenant people, and which denotes the perfection and
completeness of our heavenly home as including all the spiritual Israel.

"And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names
of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." The twelve foundations, or rather
the twelve courses of stone in the foundation, are more fully described
hereafter. The names of the twelve tribes were on the gates to denote
that the city was composed of God's true and complete Israel, and the
names of the twelve apostles are on the foundation to denote that this
contains the church which was "built upon the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone." Eph.
2:20. The system of truth that they preached to the world forms the
doctrinal basis of the church of God, they having received it from
heaven "by inspiration of God," and their names all appear; and together
they constitute one harmonious, solid foundation upon which the church
shall stand f